What We Are Reading Today: Ocean Life in the Time of Dinosaurs

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Updated 23 November 2023
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What We Are Reading Today: Ocean Life in the Time of Dinosaurs

Authors: Nathalie Bardet, Alexandra Houssaye, Stephane Jouve, & Peggy Vincent

During the Mesozoic era, 252 to 66 million years ago, dinosaurs ruled the land, but the ocean deeps were roiling with equally spectacular reptiles—including giant predators.

This richly illustrated, authoritative, and accessible book introduces readers to the world of these fascinating marine animals, whose predecessors returned to the seas a few million years after the first vertebrates emerged from the water.

As we meet ichthyosaurs, plesiosaurs, mosasaurs, and many others, we learn about the astonishing anatomical, physiological, and behavioral adaptations that enabled these reptiles to become ocean dwellers again.


What We Are Reading Today: ‘An Introduction to General Relativity and Cosmology’ by Steven A. Balbus

Updated 28 January 2026
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What We Are Reading Today: ‘An Introduction to General Relativity and Cosmology’ by Steven A. Balbus

General relativity has entered a new phase of its development as technical advances have led to the direct detection of gravitational radiation from the merging of single pairs of stellar-sized black holes.

The exquisite sensitivity of pulsar signal timing measurements has also been exploited to reveal the presence of a background of gravitational waves, most likely arising from the mergers of supermassive black holes thought to be present at the center of most galaxies.

This book demonstrates how general relativity is central to understanding these and other observations.